We have entered the most recent period in the Earth's history, the Anthropocene. It is an age characterized by man’s massive and irreversible influences on his native planet. Population explosion, climate change, environmental pollution, departure into space; these are the most distinctive symbols of this development to date.
But to a much larger extent, it will be the successes of gene technology and biotechnology that will mark this transition to a new era. Man has turned himself into a creator. We are not only just changing our environment, but the foundation of life, our own lives, as well. While we hardly even know how they work, we are nevertheless manipulating entire genomes, constructing new organisms, and clone as well as create new life. What will the new man-made nature look like?
www.aec.at/humannature

Festival Ars Electronica, Linz, September 3–8, 2009